Dealing with propecia's side effects

Hey guys, today will be 1 week taking propecia and **** am i worried. things have been.. weird, downstairs mostly a loss of sensitivity while flaccid and a bit of a shy turtle type of thing.

I can still get/maintain an erection just lovely but because of this i was thinking, is there anything i can do while on this medication to keep my penis strong blood flow/sensitivity wise?

I do the kegels every day but i was thinking maybe picking up something called "libido max" at wal-mart it has some good reviews from people with ED but i'm wondering if it will work for maintaining/making stronger what i've got now?

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Originally Posted by abusername

Hey guys, today will be 1 week taking propecia and **** am i worried. things have been.. weird, downstairs mostly a loss of sensitivity while flaccid and a bit of a shy turtle type of thing.

I can still get/maintain an erection just lovely but because of this i was thinking, is there anything i can do while on this medication to keep my penis strong blood flow/sensitivity wise?

I do the kegels every day but i was thinking maybe picking up something called "libido max" at wal-mart it has some good reviews from people with ED but i'm wondering if it will work for maintaining/making stronger what i've got now?

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Good luck. I don't think there is much that will increase your sensitivity down there, short of getting of Propecia. I was on it for a long time and my two main issues with it were the same as you.. gradually degrading erections and loss of sensitivity in my penis. My sides were somewhat tolerable at the start, but I couldn't take it after a few years. I think kegels, even doing what some call "jelquing" (penis blood massage) does help with regards to blood flow and basic erection strength, but they don't stand much of a chance in my opinion compared to the ED side effects from the drug. It's disheartening news, but that was my experience. You can have hair for a while, but can't use your dick... it's ridiculous.

The same mechanism that causes those side effects is good for your hair. Propecia is not some magical pill that works directly on your hair/scalp. It simply affects the hormones in your body and unfortunately the same hormones that make you more sexual make you loose hair. The strength of that relationship varies of course, but it's always there. That's why castrated people will never have MPB, but castration will not revert all your loss, maybe just a little. Propecia too very rarely brings about major regrowth.

People that do not get sides are either not getting any benefit from propecia or are simply failing to notice or don't mind them (you know, not everybody cares about sex).

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Originally Posted by auglen

The same mechanism that causes those side effects is good for your hair. Propecia is not some magical pill that works directly on your hair/scalp. It simply affects the hormones in your body and unfortunately the same hormones that make you more sexual make you loose hair. The strength of that relationship varies of course, but it's always there. That's why castrated people will never have MPB, but castration will not revert all your loss, maybe just a little. Propecia too very rarely brings about major regrowth.

People that do not get sides are either not getting any benefit from propecia or are simply failing to notice or don't mind them (you know, not everybody cares about sex).

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I don't think comparing Propecia to someone who has no testes is quite the same thing. The points about hairloss are taken, but being on Propecia doesn't necessarily mean that one's sex drive is lowered.. mine certainly never was! It's just that the hardware did not work when asked!! Someone who has no testes will no longer produce ANY testosterone, and this would have a much larger impact on libido than something like Propecia, which is merely dealing with blocking the conversion of some of the testosterone to DHT.

Oh, I never said that taking propecia means totally depleting yourself of T (some even report an increase, but I would guess that it's only an initial increase that many T inhibitors cause). It's supposed to mainly target DHT so that's not exactly T, but a by-product of it.
So it's completely true that most do not loose actual drive which is mainly caused by T but the actually ability to perform (which in turn is mainly thanks to DHT).

So like I said "side effects" of propecia are just a proof that it's doing something. In fact one could consider it's effect on hair as much a side effect as gyno is. And I would guess that those who get gyno probably would have get benefits for their hair than someone who notices no side effects.

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Originally Posted by auglen

People that do not get sides are either not getting any benefit from propecia or are simply failing to notice or don't mind them (you know, not everybody cares about sex).

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I dont really think this is true at all. That would be saying that everyone who takes propecia is getting sexual side effects, but 95% of people simply dont notice them? I would say if people had sexual problem, they would definitely notice them!

I have been on it for like 3 months almost and havent noticed a thing. Sex with my girlfriend is exactly as fantastic as it has always been, and honestly it doesnt feel like the drug is even doing anything. Other than the fact I notice my hair looks thicker each time I get a hair cut.

All of the studies on side effects for propecia show roughly the same percentage of people get side effects, and thats like around 5%. Everyone says dht is so important to keeping guys normal sexually, but if that was the case I guess everyone who took propecia would completely lose their sex drives!

Yea, most of the time sides are not too big so I do think most people simply fail (or are unable to notice). Most people that really pay attention tend to spot some. Semen being more watery is very often reported. But if you never really paid attention to your semen how likely is it that you'd notice? Probably you wouldn't.
I think some people misunderstand me. I'm not saying that propecia has to make you sex-less to make it work.

If you get few side effects it probably means that finasteride is not inhibiting too much DHT in your body, but that does not automatically render it ineffective because some people's hair is not as sensitive to DHT as others so this little difference could be the difference between loosing and maintaining.

But the general rule that more sides = more DHT inhibited = more likely to have a positive effect on hair still holds true.

Too many people think of MPB as a disease. It's mostly caused by your hormones, completely natural. And those are most likely determined by genetics. But we have some ways of manipulating them like propecia. It's simply the least risky way to affect your hormones in a way that benefits hair.
Some more desperate people go for really strong T inhibitors that could basically mean castration and obviously their results are much much better (stopping hair-loss basically guaranteed, many report regrowth and some get major one).

So it's also no myth that a "manly" looking man with a lot of body and facial hair are far more likely to loose hair, because that body hair is a result of a lot of the very same DHT that makes you loose hair on your head.

Also keep in mind the difference between DHT and testosterone. You could have tons of testosterone but not much of it being converted to DHT.

thanks for all the replys guys i appreciate it. So i discontinued use of the medicine, so far things feel 100% normal down there. I am thinking about taking the propecia again after consulting my physician.

I went into this very level headed and my friends i can honestly tell you things felt "different" down there. Of course i'm not claiming ****ing broken dick syndrome like all the other guys on here and i can/could still maintain an erection and achieve it just fine.

I just don't wanna mess around with this stuff man, i mean i can say now that i tried it for myself and i suppose it just isin't for me :-(

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Originally Posted by abusername

thanks for all the replys guys i appreciate it. So i discontinued use of the medicine, so far things feel 100% normal down there. I am thinking about taking the propecia again after consulting my physician.

I went into this very level headed and my friends i can honestly tell you things felt "different" down there. Of course i'm not claiming ****ing broken dick syndrome like all the other guys on here and i can/could still maintain an erection and achieve it just fine.

I just don't wanna mess around with this stuff man, i mean i can say now that i tried it for myself and i suppose it just isin't for me :-(

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Good for you bud, you made the right choice. I can almost guarantee you that if you were experiencing strong sides that early in the game.. this drug would wreak havoc on your sex life in the longer term. Your dick should thank you!!

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Originally Posted by auglen

Yea, most of the time sides are not too big so I do think most people simply fail (or are unable to notice). Most people that really pay attention tend to spot some. Semen being more watery is very often reported. But if you never really paid attention to your semen how likely is it that you'd notice? Probably you wouldn't.
I think some people misunderstand me. I'm not saying that propecia has to make you sex-less to make it work.

If you get few side effects it probably means that finasteride is not inhibiting too much DHT in your body, but that does not automatically render it ineffective because some people's hair is not as sensitive to DHT as others so this little difference could be the difference between loosing and maintaining.

But the general rule that more sides = more DHT inhibited = more likely to have a positive effect on hair still holds true.


Too many people think of MPB as a disease. It's mostly caused by your hormones, completely natural. And those are most likely determined by genetics. But we have some ways of manipulating them like propecia. It's simply the least risky way to affect your hormones in a way that benefits hair.
Some more desperate people go for really strong T inhibitors that could basically mean castration and obviously their results are much much better (stopping hair-loss basically guaranteed, many report regrowth and some get major one).

So it's also no myth that a "manly" looking man with a lot of body and facial hair are far more likely to loose hair, because that body hair is a result of a lot of the very same DHT that makes you loose hair on your head.

Also keep in mind the difference between DHT and testosterone. You could have tons of testosterone but not much of it being converted to DHT.

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Buddy, you have pretzel logic at best. Don't kid your self into thinking you understand all the mechanisms and effects of a drug like Propecia. As is coming to light, 90% of the medical community doesn't even understand what is happening completely.. so you sure as hell do not. You are also making mass generalizations about peoples' genetics purely based on physical appearance. Again, just because someone is relatively hirsute does not mean they are any more likely to go bald than someone with no body hair. The balding factor is determined purely by genetics, not by wives tales. There are lots of hairy men out there who never lose a hair.. go look at some Italians, Turks, Iranians, or East Indians.

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Originally Posted by skipstah70

Buddy, you have pretzel logic at best. Don't kid your self into thinking you understand all the mechanisms and effects of a drug like Propecia. As is coming to light, 90% of the medical community doesn't even understand what is happening completely.. so you sure as hell do not. You are also making mass generalizations about peoples' genetics purely based on physical appearance. Again, just because someone is relatively hirsute does not mean they are any more likely to go bald than someone with no body hair. The balding factor is determined purely by genetics, not by wives tales. There are lots of hairy men out there who never lose a hair.. go look at some Italians, Turks, Iranians, or East Indians.

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As I already said sensitivity of hair to DHT varies, but if we have 2 people of the same genotype then the more hairy one is more likely to loose hair (if we suppose that those people have the same sensitivity to DHT). It's no wives tale and a very simple mechanism.
So sure, you've got people that can be super hairy and not loose a single strand, their hair is simply not sensitive to DHT (or the DHT doesn't reach it, we don't really understand how that works yet). But if we compare people that are very close genetically then there's nothing outrageous about believing that the hairy ones are more likely to loose hair (actually the ones that WILL get hairy, because if they're already hairy and got a full head then it's probably an indication that the DHT is not hurting their hair).

Of course hair loss is determined by genetics, but it's not that a certain gene determines you will loose this or that amount. It's genes that determine your hair's sensitivity to DHT and the amount you produce (or more accurately the fraction of T that is being converted to DHT).

And we also have to remember that in some people facial/body hair does not react to DHT too much either. So you could have somebody producing a lot of DHT, getting hair loss and yet not seeing too much facial hair (many asians).

Thus I'm very very sorry if it sounded like I meant that facial hair equals hair loss. Don't want anybody to go crazy about having that hair :-)
But well if everybody in your family had little facial hair and full heads of hair and you was the only one that was developing much more facial hair then I think it's a genuine reason to be concerned.

And don't take it so seriously, we're having those discussions here to give each other some food for thought, nobody is claiming to have the ultimate answer.

Gunna have to agree with skipstah on this one, i glanced over what you said and it was rubbish but i do appreciate your opinion!

But thanks skipstah it's interesting to know that you experienced the same type of thing i did and i absolutely agree that this shit would have only been down-hill if i kept with it.

Appreciation taken, at least makes it less rubbishy ;-)